Capterra, a unit of Gartner Digital Markets, has released new research that found two-thirds of Canadians have no interest in using new tech for online shopping. This includes AI, the metaverse, virtual and augmented reality, and voice recognition. Capterra surveyed 500 online Canadian consumers to see what they think of eCommerce experiences, the state of social media for marketing in 2024, and the potential of emerging tech on the online shopping experience.
The research shows that while eCommerce brands have heard all the hype about the metaverse, AI and virtual reality, they should maybe save their money. Canadians are not interested in them as shopping tools. Most of the survey participants say they would not be interested in using any of the emerging technologies to shop online, and only QR codes were attractive to more than 10% of respondents. Over two-thirds of Canadians show no interest in new technologies for online shopping versus a global average of 42%.
Surprisingly, social media also doesn’t perform well with shoppers. When it comes to interacting with brands on social media, 42% of online consumers say they prefer not to engage. Only 15% have tried chatbots to search for products , but two-thirds of these would do so again. Traditional consumer tech dominates and retailers should focus on making their sites and apps user-friendly on the major platforms that consumers do use.
Social media fatigue could become a problem for online brands, too. Capterra found that the majority of consumers are mistrustful of influencers on social media and feel overwhelmed by the number of ads they see on these platforms. Although shoppers have some tolerance for brands interacting with them on social media, they certainly don’t embrace it. A majority would prefer not to engage with brands, but about one-third say they are prepared to receive relevant ads or be sent discounts from brands.
Mistrust of social media extends to the platforms themselves. Although respondents may think personalized ads are okay, a majority (83%) said that they do not want social media companies to know what products they buy online.
Other key findings of the research show that search engines (used by 55%) and retailer websites (43%) are the most popular places to start online shopping journeys rather than social media (13%). Price and quality are major factors for those who remain loyal to brands, but they are also the biggest drivers for those who prefer to try different ones. The vast majority (72%) say they do not trust product reviews by social media influencers, and 89% say they see too many ads on social media.
There are some positive points about social media advertising. The survey suggests that consumers are slightly more likely to take a positive action than a negative one in response to an ad on social media with 42% saying they looked up information about a product in response to an ad on social media in the past 12 months. In addition, 28% says they purchased one or more products and 14% said they followed a brand. However, 22% have blocked or unfollowed a brand in response to a social media ad in the past year, and 28% blocked specific advertisements.
The on-page experience is a vital part of the user journey. Once shoppers have landed on an eCommerce site, they can search, browse, filter, compare, and save products, as well as contact the company if they have queries. The ways consumers browse an online store closely matches how they browse in a physical store. Nearly three-quarters of those who begin their online product searches on retailers’ stores or apps said they browse by category, around half use a search bar, and slightly more check the sales or discount pages.
Capterra cautions brands to take care when using AI to make recommendations. Although there is potential for eCommerce brands to use AI tools to help customers, shoppers may not be ready for it.
A more established use of AI in eCommerce is making personalized recommendations to shoppers. Canadian consumers may be more open to this use of AI. More than half (61%) are happy to be recommended discounts or deals, which can be done without the retailer having personalized the offer in any way. Fewer (41%) were happy to have recommendations based on their past purchases and a quarter would accept recommendations based on their search or viewing history.
